Having a double mastectomy reduces the risk of premature death in healthy women carrying a breast cancer gene

Having a double mastectomy reduces the risk of premature death in healthy women carrying a breast cancer gene, new research has revealed.

For women with the mutant BRCA1 gene, removal of both breasts also lowered their risk of developing breast cancer.

The same study found, however, that undergoing a double mastectomy, or bilateral risk-reducing mastectomy (BRRM), made no difference to the life expectancy of women with another faulty gene, mutant BRCA2.

Chance of breast cancer increases 72%

Both mutant versions of BRCA1 and BRCA2 greatly increase the chances of women developing breast cancer.

An estimated 72% of BRCA1 mutation carriers and 69% of women with BRCA2 mutations can expect to develop breast cancer by the age of 80, compared with 12% of the general population.

In May 2013, Hollywood star Angelina Jolie had both her breasts removed after discovering she carried the BRCA1 gene.

Two years later, she had her ovaries removed, as BRCA mutations also raise the risk of ovarian cancer.

The new study, conducted in the Netherlands, tracked the progress of 1,696 BRCA1 mutation carriers and 1,139 BRCA2 mutation carriers who opted either for BRRM or careful surveillance. All the women were healthy with no previous history of cancer.

Over a period of nine to 11 years, seven of the BRCA1 carriers who had undergone double mastectomies and 269 of those who chose not to have the procedure were diagnosed with breast cancer.

Just one of the BRRM group died from breast cancer during the follow-up period, compared with 19 from the surveillance group.

BRRM "drastically reduces the risk of developing cancer"

For BRCA2 mutation carriers, the risk of dying was low, whether or not their breasts had been surgically removed.